Education is among the most powerful institutions through which a civilisation transmits its knowledge, values, aspirations and understanding of life from one generation to another. Yet, in our contemporary understanding, education has gradually become narrower and more utilitarian. We increasingly view education through the prism of examinations, degrees, qualifications, placements and employment. The question most frequently asked of a young person after completing school or university is not what he or she has learnt about life, society or the world, but what job the qualification will secure.

The choice of a course is often guided primarily by its perceived employment prospects, the success of an institution is frequently measured by its placement statistics, and the success of an individual is increasingly associated with salary, designation and professional status. Employment, which should be an important outcome and instrument of education, has gradually become its principal purpose, rather than preparing and grooming an individual as a complete person ready to go through life in any situation and circumstances.

There is nothing inherently wrong with seeking employment through education. Economic independence, dignity of labour and the ability to sustain oneself and one’s family are essential dimensions of a meaningful life. A modern education system must certainly equip young people with knowledge and competencies that enable them to participate productively in the economy. It must respond to technological change, emerging professions and the changing requirements of the world of work. The problem begins when employment becomes the sole lens through which the value of education is judged.

When that happens, education risks becoming a transaction in which a student acquires a credential, an institution delivers a qualification and society expects the qualification to produce a job. Somewhere in this transaction, the larger purpose of education often disappears. The consequence is a paradox that deserves serious reflection. We have more institutions of learning, more graduates, greater access to information and unprecedented technological capabilities, yet formal education does not necessarily translate into greater wisdom, stronger character, social responsibility or the capacity to deal with the complexities of human life.

We are producing people who may possess degrees without possessing adequate employability, and even those who are professionally successful may not necessarily have acquired the life skills, ethical judgement, emotional maturity or social values necessary to live responsibly. A degree can demonstrate that a person has completed a prescribed course of study. It cannot, by itself, demonstrate that the person has learnt how to deal with failure, exercise restraint, respect another person’s dignity, resolve disagreements, distinguish between what is legal and what is ethical, or accept responsibility for the consequences of his or her actions.

This distinction between being qualified and being educated is fundamental. A qualification is an acknowledgement of academic attainment. Education, in its fuller sense, is the development of the whole human being. It should enlarge the mind, deepen understanding,........

© The Statesman